A grand jury has recommended criminal charges against Pennsylvania Attorney General Kathleen Kane after probing allegations she leaked secret information to a newspaper in an attempt to embarrass critics, The Philadelphia Inquirer is reporting.

The panel concluded Kane violated grand-jury secrecy rules by leaking investigative material in a bid to embarrass political enemies, sources told The Inquirer.

Lanny J. Davis, an attorney for Attorney General Kathleen Kane, responded with a statement:

"I cannot confirm the posted report in the Philadelphia Inquirer of any presentment issued by the Grand Jury regarding Attorney General Kathleen Kane. If such is the case, then it is my understanding that it is up to the Montgomery County District Attorney to make a judgment as to whether to proceed against the Attorney General. The Attorney General has done nothing wrong or illegal and, to my knowledge, there is no credible evidence that she has. She told the truth to the Grand Jury at all times. I hope the District Attorney will reach same conclusion.

"This anonymous leak to the Inquirer about this alleged presentment could be, in and of itself, a possible violation of the state Grand Jury Secrecy Act. I wonder why the supervising judge who appointed the special prosecutor to investigate the Attorney General hasn't initiated a grand jury investigation of this leak or any of the other previous leaks from this same Grand Jury process."

Kane has used her own money to hire Davis and other high-profile help in defending herself during the grand jury leak investigation.

Kane arrived at a Nov. 17 proceeding in Montgomery County with New York lawyer Gerald Shargel and Davis, a legal crisis manager from Washington, D.C. A grand jury is looking into whether she leaked secret material tied to a 2009 grand jury to discredit one of her critics.

The grand jury investigation Shargel and Davis are trying to help Kane navigate centers on whether she or someone in her office leaked secret grand jury material to discredit critics, namely Frank Fina, a former prosecutor who helped convict Sandusky, according to The Philadelphia Inquirer.

Fina, who now works in the Philadelphia district attorney's office, had been a vocal critic of Kane's.

Montgomery County Judge William R. Carpenter, who runs state grand jury proceedings in southeastern Pennsylvania, appointed a special prosecutor to examine how the Philadelphia Daily News found out about a 2009 grand jury investigation of a Philadelphia political activist. Fina was involved in the probe of the activist, J. Whyatt Mondesire, former president of the city's NAACP chapter.

The new grand jury Carpenter authorized is looking into whether Kane's office threatened Fina and others to stop their criticisms or face the prospect of Kane's releasing scores of sexually explicit emails in an attempt to embarrass them.

The emails, found as part of her office's review of the Sandusky investigation, since have created a statewide scandal. Nine men lost their government or private sector jobs, including state Supreme Court Justice Seamus McCaffery, who retired after being suspended.

Grand jury proceedings are conducted in secret, and anyone who breaks the rules can be held in contempt of court.